Manchester makes biofuel breakthrough
22 Jun 2015
Scientists at the University of Manchester have made a discovery that could lead to the development of cleaner hydrocarbons and more sustainable chemicals.
Based at the university’s Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB), the research team has identified the exact mechanism and structure of two key enzymes isolated from yeast moulds.
According to the MIB, the new information could be used to provide a new, cleaner route to the production of hydrocarbons.
“One of the main challenges our society faces is the dwindling level of oil reserves
Lead investogator David Leys
“One of the main challenges our society faces is the dwindling level of oil reserves that we not only depend upon for transport fuels, but also plastics, lubricants, and a wide range of petrochemicals. Solutions that seek to reduce our dependency on fossil oil are urgently needed,” said lead investigator David Leys.
However, Leys said that while the direct production of fuel compounds by living organisms is an attractive process, it is “currently not one that is well understood, and although the potential for large-scale biological hydrocarbon production exists, in its current form it would not support industrial application, let alone provide a valid alternative to fossil fuels.”
To combat this issue, Leys and his team investigated the mechanism whereby common yeast mould can produce kerosene-like odours when grown on food containing the preservative sorbic acid.
The research team discovered that these organisms use a previously unknown modified form of vitamin B2 to support the production of volatile hydrocarbons that caused the kerosene odour.
Following that, the researchers used the Diamond synchrotron source at Harwell, Oxfordshire to provide atomic level insights into this bio-catalytic process, and reveal it shares similarities with procedures commonly used in chemical synthesis but previously thought not to occur in nature.
“Now that we understand how yeast and other microbes can produce very modest amounts of fuel-like compounds through this modified vitamin B2-dependent process, we are in a much better position to try to improve the yield and nature of the compounds produced,” Leys said.
“This fundamental research builds on the MIB’s expertise in enzyme systems and provides the basis for the development of new applications in biofuel and commodity chemical production.
“The insights from this research offer the possibility of circumventing current industrial processes which are reliant on scarce natural resources,” he added.
The research, which was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), first appeared in the journal Nature last week.
